Ep 398: Building A $2.5B AUM Advisory Enterprise Under The Umbrella Of A National CPA Firm With Eric Wulff
Release Date: 08/13/2024
Ep 423: Expanding Across The Household By Helping (Affluent) Sandwich Generation Kids With Their Parents’ Financial Needs with Cristina Livadary
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Cristina Livadary is the CEO of Mana Financial Life Design, an RIA based in Los Angeles (that works virtually with clients nationwide) overseeing approximately $70 million in assets under management for 119 client households. Cristina's firm helps “sandwich generation” clients by crafting financial plans that address their personal needs and goals while also offering optional add-on planning engagements to tackle the financial challenges of their aging parents, who may require support in the future. This dual-focus approach ensures comprehensive support for clients navigating...
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Ep 422: Developing Your Leadership Skillset On The Path From Intern To President Of A $13B AUM Enterprise with Kay Lynn Mayhue
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Kay Lynn Mayhue is the President of Merit Financial Advisors, a hybrid advisory firm based out of Georgia that oversees approximately $13 billion in assets under management for 26,000 households. What’s unique about Kay Lynn is how she cultivated her advisory, management, and leadership skills to progress to become president of a national RIA enterprise. In her role, she now spearheads the firm’s proactive mergers and acquisitions strategy. Listen in as Kay Lynn shares her journey from client-facing advisor to firm leader, including the pivotal lessons she learned about leadership after...
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Ep 421: Integrating Tax Preparation Without Hiring In-House CPAs To Bring More Tax-Focused Value with Daniel Friedman
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Ep 420: Making Financial Planning More Repeatable Without Losing The Customization Where Clients Prioritize What Matters Most with Michelle Underwood Gass
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Michelle Underwood Gass is the Founding Principal of Paradigm Advisors, an RIA based out of Dallas that oversees approximately $110 million in assets under management for 80 client households. What’s unique about Michelle is how she developed a structured meeting process to guide new clients through her in-depth planning system, ensuring a standardized experience while retaining the flexibility to customize each client’s financial plan, prioritizing their unique needs and goals. Listen in as Michelle shares her 5-part planning process, beginning with a “Get to Know You” meeting that...
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Ep 419: Attracting Clients Who Want To Align Their Investments With Their Values With A Sustainable Investing Approach with Peter Krull
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Peter Krull is the Director of Sustainable Investing of Earth Equity Advisors, an RIA based out of North Carolina that oversees approximately $200 million in assets under management for 250 client households. What sets Pete apart is his ability to grow his firm by helping clients align their portfolios with their personal values, turning investments into a reflection of the businesses they want to support. He achieves this while maintaining well-diversified, market-aligned portfolios that are prudently allocated to sound businesses. Listen in as Pete shares how his sustainable investing...
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Ep 418: Developing The “Middle” Management Layer To Scale Up Team Leadership Capacity For $3B Of AUM with Stacey McKinnon
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Stacey McKinnon is the chief operating officer of Morton Wealth, an RIA based out of California that oversees approximately $3 billion in assets under management for 1,300 client households. Stacey has spearheaded a leadership training program at Morton Wealth to support middle managers, many of whom transitioned from hands-on roles to managerial positions, equipping them with essential communication and management skills. This initiative was crucial as the firm's workforce doubled from 30 to 60 employees over four years, surpassing the capacity of senior leadership to manage a growing team....
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Ep 417: Establishing Your Authority As An Expert By Following A Short Book Formula For Authorship with Paul G McManus
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Ep 416: Avoiding The Compliance Headaches When Going RIA By Choosing A ‘Supported Independence’ Corporate RIA Platform with Fran Toler
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Ep 415: Systematizing A Firm-Wide Planning Process By Leveraging Centralized Teams And A Ticketing Workflow System with Erika Wood
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Erika Wood is the Director of Wealth Management of VisionPoint Advisory Group, a hybrid advisory firm based in Dallas that oversees approximately $3 billion in assets under advisement for both 780 client households and retirement plans. Erika’s firm stands out for its use of centralized financial planning and service teams, along with a ticketing workflow system, to streamline a firm-wide planning process, efficiently serving a private wealth client base with $600M in assets under management. Listen in as Erika shares how her firm streamlines client meetings and task completion, ensuring...
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Ep 414: Narrowing Down The Focus To Byte-Sized Planning For Tech Employees To 10X To $50M AUM In Just 3 Years with Eric Franklin
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Eric Franklin is the Managing Partner of Prospero Wealth, an RIA based out of Seattle that oversees $52 million in assets under management for 80 households. Eric uniquely grew his assets under management to $50 million in just three years by targeting employees at big tech firms and adapting his planning process into smaller, manageable segments. This approach, which spreads out financial planning over time, proved more valuable for his busy clients, preventing them from feeling overwhelmed. Listen in as Eric shares how he enhances client engagement by focusing on a few planning priorities at...
info_outlineEric Wulff is the CEO of Marcum Wealth, an RIA based out of Cleveland that oversees $2.5 billion in assets under management for approximately 2,700 households. Eric has uniquely developed Marcum Wealth into a multi-billion-dollar firm under the umbrella of a national accounting firm, largely by fostering mutually beneficial relationships with internal CPAs to secure referrals of their accounting clients to his financial planning business. This strategy has effectively integrated and leveraged the firm's existing services to expand its client base and enhance its financial planning division.
Listen in as Eric shares his strategic approach to generating internal referrals at his firm, using a "give to get" philosophy with CPAs to ensure his advisors are top of mind for financial planning referrals, especially through exit planning services that help maintain CPA-client relationships beyond traditional business needs. He also explains how his firm standardizes financial planning across national offices through a centralized team, the effectiveness of presenting detailed financial plans to prospects before they commit, and his targeted acquisition strategy focusing on growth-minded mid-career advisors.
For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/398
Headers:
What Marcum Wealth Looks Like Today [6:35]
Using A Team-Based Approach To Building Financial Plans [16:10]
Linking Marcum Wealth's Planning Process To Its Asset Allocation Frameworks [28:44]
Converting Prospects Into Clients Through The Plan Delivery Process [33:06]
How Marcum Wealth Generates Referrals From Its Attached CPA Firm [46:10]
Dividing Advisory Teams By Geography And Client Segments [57:43]
Marcum Wealth's Strategic Approach To Acquisitions [1:04:21]
What Surprised Eric The Most Building An Advisory Business [1:15:40]
The Low Point On Eric's Journey [1:17:34]
What Eric Would Tell His Younger Self [1:22:58]
Eric's Advice For Younger Advisors [1:24:15]
What Success Means To Eric [1:27:25]
The following contains the thoughts and opinions of Eric Wulff, CEO, of Marcum Wealth, LLC. Marcum Wealth is an investment adviser registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The statements herein are intended as brand and general educational and informational content only, and no viewer should construe any statements as an offer of Marcum Wealth’s advisory services. Viewers are encouraged to discuss the content of this broadcast with, and direct any questions to, the financial professional of their choosing.